UNESCO estimates the cost of the destruction of Ukrainian heritage at $3.5 billion
Ukraine’s heritage and cultural sector has suffered $3.5 billion (€3.3 billion) in damage since the start of the war, leading to $19 billion (€17.7 billion) in losses. Losses in entertainment, arts and tourism, UNESCO estimated on Tuesday.
In April 2023, the UN Organization for Education, Science and Culture, headquartered in Paris, estimated these losses at around $2.6 billion and tourism, arts and entertainment at $14.6 billion.
To achieve these amounts, UNESCO has identified nearly 5,000 sites destroyed since the start of the Russian offensive in February 2022, with 341 cultural sites damaged – compared to 248 in April 2023. The historic center of Lviv (west) and Odessa (south), two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, were particularly affected by Russian bombing.
UNESCO representative to Ukraine, Chiara Dzi Bardecchi, specifically mentioned the Transfiguration Cathedral in Odessa, a “A Symbol for the Whole Community”, which was heavily damaged by a Russian strike in July 2023. Founded more than two hundred years ago and destroyed by the Soviets in 1936, the cathedral was rebuilt in the early 2000s thanks to donations. It was consecrated in 2010 by the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, Kirill.
has a cathedral “Religious and Spiritual Value to the City and Community” But now it is not usable by the community, regrettedme Bardechi.
Seven Ukrainian cultural sites and one natural site are part of UNESCO World Heritage, including the historic center of Odessa (south-west), which joined it this year.
Sixteen other sites, including the city center of Chernihiv, damaged during the first months of the war, appear on the list. “indicator” of UNESCO. Kyiv will, eventually, present its candidacy with a view to becoming a World Heritage Site.
